Cause It All Started
by Tenshi D. Alicia
Summary: It all started, with one woman, two girls, and an unavoidable truth: Darkness will never be black, and lightness will never be white. Not even if you control the powers of a god. T. Law x OC, OC x OC? Romance, Adventure, Friendship, Hurt, Comfort and just plain Love. Lots of different characters and pirate groups, not gonna list them all. Enjoy !
1. Cause it all started

**All right, here we go! First chapter of my first ever story, let's see what we get!  
Disclaimer: Alicia doesn't own any characters or plots from One Piece, just her OC and her own story plot…. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz**

**Yeah, I'm tired too. I'm gonna post this, then off to bed!**

**Which translates into reading all night…. **grins****

**'Cause it all started, for love, for family, for life,**

**'Cause it all ended, for money, for evil, for strife, **

**'Cause it all was put together, for kindness, for hope, for an unavoidable truth,**

**'Cause it all continued, for nakamas, for dreams, for passions,**

**Why do I, a simple girl, get to love such a man?**

**Why do I, nothing but a doll to peoples past, have such a savior? **

**Why do I feel like I could never dream of such a thing happening to one as me, a broken, empty shell?**

**"But all things wither, and all things die. **

**But all things grow, and all things fly," **

**For the life I couldn't have,**

**For the life I now possess, **

**I will tell the story, **

**Of a passion you won't forget. **

**_Tenryo D. Alicia_**

**_Tenshi D. Maria_**

**_Alice_**

**_Maria_**

**Chapter 1:**

**Words that ring through the world- A girl's battle to forget the past?**

**Somewhere on the Grand Line…**

**Crack! Crash!** _Whaa...?_  
**FOOOOM** _Ohh..._  
**BANG! BANG!** _That's right... I'm going to die..._

"Captain! Captain! We need to get out! Captain!"  
_Captain? A-a pirate? Pirates? Attacked by pirates? What a way to go..._

"Wait! There's someone there!" _No... Leave me here... I don't want to live... I don't deserve it..._

"Hang on! We're getting out of here!"  
_Wait? What? No! Leave me here! I want to die! I, I shouldn't be alive! I'm an abomination! An ugly, worthless piece of rotting flesh! I want to die! I want to die...!_

"Bepo, take her. She's badly injured- some of these wounds look infected and old!"  
_That's right, they are... The way they treated us was horrible... Inhumane... But I guess we aren't human, so we don't count... We're livestock to them…!_

"Everyone! Get off the ship before you get burned! We've got a critical patient! Get the operating theater ready, and Bepo, get her ready for surgery!"  
"Yes captain!" She could feel herself being carried away. Soon, she felt someone pulling off the rags they gave them for clothes, slipping her into light fabric.  
"Oh god, she's had a rough time of it." The voice said. It sounded strange.

She was carried again, and then laid down on something that was moving.  
_"No! No, please no more experiments!"_ She heard herself, much younger, sobbing in fear, in pain, terrified of the wicked people in blue scrubs with doctors' masks. They held scalpels and lights over her face, plunging the knife straight between her eyes. It was a frequent nightmare from combined experiences.

"Does she need anesthesia captain?" She heard someone say.  
_No... no more... Please, let this just end! I just want to die!_  
"No. She won't be able to complain, she'll be unconscious with just a small dose of sleep meds." She turned her head to the right, and saw the one who spoke. It was a guy, not the scientists. He caught her eye, and stared straight at her.

"I'm not letting you die." He plunged a needle straight into her arm, and with her thoughts burning at that last remark, she drifted into sleep.

**Grand Line**

When she finally woke up, her head was burning. She tried to look around. She was in a room, alone. It had four beds lined up against one wall, with medical cabinets nailed down to the other wall. She was in the last bed from the door. She pulled back the sheets, and nearly cried. Her body was covered in burns, and series of cuts and bruises lacerated her arms. Her head was throbbing, and it hurt to move. But she had to get out of here. She ripped out the IV's in her arm, and unstrapped her legs from the bed.

She forced herself off the bed, and got a better look at the room. It was shaped like a T with the door at the bottom. Two medical examination tables were at the top of the T, near her, equipped with lights and rolling tables. A desk was in the right corner of the room, with small shelves and counters and a closet on the back wall. There were little curtains hanging at intervals between the beds. She limped to the nearest one, and peered out. There was nothing but blackness.

_Night…?_ She thought. She let the curtain fall back into place.

"You shouldn't be up." A voice said from behind her. She whirled around with a gasp, half in surprise, and half at the pain in her side. The person who had knocked her out? She looked at him closely now. He had on tight blue pants, covered with weird black spots at the ankles and half-way up to the knees, and a yellow hoodie with black sleeves and a weird smiley. He also had a weird mushroom hat on. She backed away slowly from the intruder.

"Get back into bed. You need to rest; you'll die if you start moving." She kept backing away from him. This was the man who had cut her open. She could see the stiches on her body from where he took out darts (and bullets) the soldiers and guards had shot her with for fun. He was getting mad.

"Get back into bed! You're wounds will re-open if you don't!" _What is she thinking? _ He thought angrily. He reached out and grabbed her, and she tried to jump backwards. But he held fast, and her knees gave out, letting her crash into him, shaking and shivering in fear.

"Hey…? Are you, okay?" He asked, trying to help her up. She gulped and pulled away, pressing her back against the second bed, simpering pitifully. He was a bit shocked, but his training as a doctor told him that as a sick, wounded individual, she should NOT be lying on a cold floor right now. He grabbed her hand, and pulled her up. She gasped, and hunched her shoulders forwards to try to stop him. But he had already swung her back into the bed, and threw the sheets up on top of her. She blinked in shock. Why wasn't he holding her down and knocking her out? Why wasn't he making her take injections and deal with experiments? Why wasn't he trying to hurt her?

"Get some rest. I'll send Bepo in later with some real food for you." He re-did her IV's, and left the room. She can't remember falling asleep, but when she did, she knows it was the only time she had felt, safe.

**All right, first chapter! Please review, even flames are welcome. I WONT UPDATE WITHOUT REVIEWS, and I'm telling you now I have the next chapter written, and the whole story plotted out. Until next time….**

**Jaa ne! ^w^**


	2. What's your name?

**Alright! Second chapter, and this is where it gets interesting. Who is this girl Law has found? Why was she in the middle of a fire? And where does she come from?**

**Be sure to find out, now read!**

**Disclaimer: Alicia, drop the salesperson act. **

**Shut it and do what I pay you for. **

**Disclaimer: I don't get paid. Tenshi D. Alicia does not own anything having to do with One Piece, it's characters, it's plots, blah blah blah...**

**Hey, do you want me to get arrested?! Do your job!**

**Disclaimer: Relax... Now go read before Alicia bonks me with her frying pan. **

**Chapter 2**

**Grand Line**

"Hey hey hey! She's waking up! Captain! She's waking up! She's waking up!" She opened one eye, only to shut it faster. A. TALKING. BEAR. _There is a huge talking bear in an orange jumpsuit near me!_ She thought, _and WHY does it talk!? WHY?! Oh please god, please, why is this happening to me…?!_

_You know, it's kinda cute…._

"Hey, are you awake?! She's awake! She's awake!" The bear was yelling (?) updates to the tall guy who had come in when the bear had started yelling. The guy just half-grinned this creepy smile, and nodded to the bear.

"Bepo." he said. "Aye captain!" The bear handed her a tray with something that smelled _really_ good. "Hungry?" he asked, and then grinned (can bears grin?) and seemed to be genuinely happy.

When she was finally in a sitting position, she managed to eat alone. It would have been fairly embarrassing for her to be fed, especially by a bear. For a second, she fantasized about the guy feeding her…. What was she thinking?! She looked at the food. It was soup with chunks of chicken and bread, but it was _really _good. It was the first good food she'd had for a long time.

"You like that, huh?" The bear said, "We don't always have the best food, but we've gotten better. Not to say we didn't have good food before too!" He looked at the tall guy with apprehension upon saying this.

"Mm." The man said, not bothering with changing his expression. He seemed to take this in stride, not letting his emotions betray him.

"Anyways, we don't have a cook, but our food is okay!" The bear turned back around to her.

"Oh, but sometimes Shachi will help out in the kitchen."

She wanted to talk, but, she couldn't. She hadn't spoken for a very long time, since a while after she was taken. And now, the bear and the guy seemed to notice.

"Hey, can you talk? Why aren't you talking?" The guy asked her. She tried to answer, but the words got stuck in her throat, and threatened to choke her if she didn't swallow them back. She let her hair fall in front of her face, hiding herself behind it.

"Well, even if you can, I doubt you would. It's obvious when I found you that you weren't valued." She shot him a look that said, No really? I was left for dead tied up in a room that was on a ship you were burning! They definitely cared if I died or not! "I guess you'll start talking soon enough."

"Here, I doubt you had a chance to see yourself, wherever you came from." He passed her a small mirror, plain steel. She brought it to her face, and nearly dropped it in surprise. The person who looked back at her, she couldn't possibly be her! She had thin, wispy silver hair, a fragile looking face with the palest skin, and the iciest blue eyes. She brought her hand to her lips, pale and glossy, with the subtlest hint of pinkness. She remembered herself having dark skin and wavy, curly hair, not this wispy silver and pale complexion!

Speaking of wispy, she realized what she was wearing. It was possibly the thinnest gown ever. Even the rags she had been forced to wear as a test subject were made of rough, thick cloth like wool. This was made of thin dark green cotton, but it felt like paper. It hugged her frame, and even though she wasn't that curvy, she certainly wasn't shapeless. She hugged her knees to her chest, and pulled the sheets up over her legs. The guy noticed this, and whispered something to the bear. He left briefly, and returned with a long off-white tunic top and half-length pant.

"You can use these for clothes," the bear said. "We don't have any clothes for girls, because this crew is made up of men…Ah! We don't even know your name! Oh but wait, you can't speak…"

She sat in silence. She still remembered a few things about her childhood- one of which wasn't what her name was. Her memories were the only thing that held her to this world, knowledge that she was somebody, that she had a family, a place to belong. She wanted to be called by only her real name, once she found out what it was. But the tall guy had other ideas.

"Well, if you don't have a name, then we'll give you one." He sat in thought for a moment. "How about Alice?" She nodded her head vigorously. She couldn't remember her own name, but Alice sounded familiar. Law looked at her in surprise. He thought that this girl might be of some use to him. But she was surprising him. She didn't even flinch at him when he came in, unlike when she had all but pushed him away last time he checked on her, and the when he suggested a name for her, her eyes were filled with fire.

"Alice, huh? Well, my name is Trafalgar Law. This is Bepo. Welcome to the Heart Pirates." Law said smoothly, hiding his annoyance and confusion.

And sitting in a hospital bed with a bear and a guy talking over her, without even realizing it, Alice became a pirate and handed her soul over to love.

**_Flashback_**

Law walked down to his infirmary. He wanted to check in badly on the mysterious girl he had found on the World Gov. ship. She had been on a lab vessel, perfect to raid for medical supplies. But he hadn't thought they'd have an honest to god test subject with them.

When he had found her, she had been bound in chains and strapped to a medical examination table. Her eyes had been lifeless, and she looked broken. Now, Law generally wouldn't give a shit about this kind of thing, but this particular girl said something that intrigued him. She said a word, "Joker".

This girl had some sort of knowledge, and Law decided that he'd get that knowledge from her; even if he had this information already, or otherwise.

But when he took her in his arms, he saw something. A small house in a field, surrounded by flowers. A small girl, holding hands with a young woman. A fire, two hands reaching for each other, being pulled away from each other. Aimlessly wandering, through trees and trash alike, hiding from monsters, killing for food. Three faces, bringing joy and sunshine after gray lifelessness. Being ripped apart from them, being burned, burned, burned. Burning, but not hurting. Not feeling the scalding white-hot flame against her back. Then crying. Crying. Crying.

Law thought that this girl had been part of Joker's plots. He had heard a rumor about it, but he had paid it no attention. Now, he bitterly regretted it, regretted not taking in information. But she could be of use to him, he decided, and so she was a commodity.

But still, if this girl was who he thought he was, then she was the sole possessor of a fake devil fruit, the exact thing that Joker was trying to produce. Of course, Law knew better than to let her use her real name. That would alert Joker to her presence. No, for now, she was Alice, a girl that was kidnapped as a child and sold to human-experimenters.

And yet strangely, Law felt a certain, pull, to this girl. She was weak, vulnerable, but possessed a certain fire to her. _She was strong once before. _Law realized. _And I will aim to make her strong again._

**Yay! Second Chapter is done!**

**Disclaimer: Thank god...**

**Disclaimer: Wait, we didn't learn anything about Alice! All we got was some made up name and what she looks like!**

**Ta~!**

**Disclaimer: Wait! ALICIA!**

**Jaa ne! ^w^**


	3. A drabble just for you

**Yosh~! REALLY short chapter- just sort of a drabble I've done. Nothing special, just a little something for you guys to look at and go, "WHF why do I bother?!"**

**I will tell you now, it is because...!**

**Disclaimer: **butts in** Because Tenshi D. Alicia does not own One Piece! **

**Me: Hey!**

**Disclaimer: **raises eyebrow** Don't cross me hun'. **

**Disclaimer: ON WITH LE FIC!**

**Me: yeah, yeah...**

**Chapter 3**

**The ones who couldn't die- tales of the world escaped and the world denied**

**A place somewhere far away….**

_Mom…! Mom…! I found something pretty! _

I remember it clear as day in dreams…

_Oh, how pretty! Your father will be very happy!_

But they flee so fast when I wake, I never can recall them…

_I'm sure he'll love it, why don't you take it to him now?_

The life of those called "privileged"…

_Hee hee! I hope he likes it!_

But who are kept as prisoners, used as shields…

_Mommy! Mommy! _

_No! Ma-!_

_…_

_Oh, what a fine specimen! Daddy, can I have her? She's an awfully wonderful one!_

Those who are called "dragons", they deserve to be called so. Their talons tear the sky, and reach down from the gravely misnamed "heavens" of hellish cliffs and skies to mark their prey with their sacred "claw", burning onto the flesh in their backs. They make their slaves dance to their deaths, lining their homeland with the dead bodies of those unfortunate enough to be ensnared by them.

_Okaa-san…. Okaa-san… _

_Heyyy, little girl! Get moving! You're taking too long! Take that! And that!_

The days that passed…. The days that dragged…. The days that never stopped…

_So, this is the lot of them? Thank you very much for doing business with us my lord! We deeply appreciate it!_

_Of course- if this pays off, it will bring in millions!_

_…_

_No! Please no! Mommy! Mommy! I want mommy!_

_Shut up girl! You shouldn't be allowed to live! You're lucky that you were picked for such a grand experiment such as this! Shut up girl, shut up!_

_No! Mommy! Let me go! I want Mommy! NO!_

…

I remember. I lived there. The city of angels. The pits of hell. The homes of those who burn their prisoners, the land of all things sacred.

It is my namesake.

Mariejois.

**Soo! EXTREMELY. SHORT. Can this really be called a chapter?! Yes it can :P So then, as always, REVIEW! I think I might start shout-outs and the like- maybe. I just wanna thank everyone who's read this!**

**If you have read this and haven't reviewed, let your pitiful soul burn in hell. :P**

**As always, Jaa ne! ^w^**


	4. Hallways, scares, and memories?

**Yay! A bit fo a longer chapter for you, (But not much)**

**Shout outs to some people!**

**NightHunterDeath: All will be revealed in time ;D**

**10th Squad 3rd Seat: I know... it was waaaay too short. But, that's the way it is :P**

**Disclaimer: Alicia does not own One Piece!**

**Chapter 4**

**Grand Line**

It has been a month since Alice first joined with Law. It's a long story, but now she's travelling with them. The first weeks were tough- She couldn't speak, she couldn't walk, it was like a nightmare. She was lucky that Law took such good care of her. He stayed with her a lot, and when he didn't stay with her, she followed him around. She grew fond of him and Bepo. (Of course, without Alice knowing, Law was trying to figure her out. He would try to find something different about her, but other than the fact that she seemed completely hollow inside, he found nothing remarkable. His irritation at not being able to read her grew. Not that he ever showed it.)

Bepo was really nice. He was her "nurse" as Law put it, since there aren't any girls in Law's crew. Bepo was really patient with Alice. He always finds a way to cheer her up, and kicks any guys who try to harass her. It's almost funny, if it weren't so scary for her. She hates men. But Bepo's a bear, so he doesn't count.

Law's crew is made up entirely of men, and they all jump at the chance of seeing a woman. But men, well… they terrify Alice. She doesn't know any men other than the people who enslaved and tortured her. So when all the men in Law's crew look at Alice, she's petrified. Law noticed this. He wondered why she was hesitant to leave her room. Now he knows why. But he takes barely used paths in the ship to humor her.

The ship is very strange for a pirate ship. Alice asked Law once why it was always dark outside. He told her it was because at the moment they were travelling underwater. Of course, she panicked when she heard _that_ bit of news, but it was because he conveniently left out that the ship was a submarine.

Law doesn't have a lot of things to do onboard for a captain. But he seriously needs to get himself a good cook. Shachi is good at cooking, but he's no chef. He and the rest of the crew make a funny bunch. She doesn't know everybody's names, but Law says he's going to introduce her to everyone. Alice was walking in the halls once, trying to find Law while not being seen by the crew.

Two guys in the standard white/beige suits with tall black boots that most of the crew wore approached her. They were Shachi and Penguin, two crewmates that Law seemed to trust. Alice didn't. She didn't trust any man. Shachi had a large green cap with a red rim, and Penguin had a black, white, and red cap with the word Penguin written across the front.

"It's very nice to meet you, Alice-chan! We've heard a lot about you!" Shachi said. Alice smiled nervously, and tried to get around him. "Where are you going so soon Alice? Stay a while, won't you?" She tried to hide, peeking out from hunched shoulders. It helped that she was small in general. Shachi looked at her with an expression of loss, and Penguin with one of victory.

"Alice-tan, I would like to personally welcome you to the crew!" Penguin said, sweeping one arm in front of him and bowing to her in a grand gesture. She pulled her arms in even closer to her chest, tightening her shoulders, staring at him, scared. More of the crew had appeared, and now they were laughing at Shachi and Penguin, while others were trying to flatter her with kind words and sweet promises of devotion to their "Angel from the flames". She pulled into herself. _Where is Law? Where's Bepo?! Why isn't someone helping me?!_ She thought madly. She was now surrounded by men, all laughing and hollering at failed attempts to "coax the little pearl from the oyster", whatever an oyster was. They were like wolves attracted to a steak.

BAM. Bepo came out of nowhere, sending flurries of kicks straight at her attackers. "Leave poor Alice alone!" He said feverantly, "You're terrifying her!" She scurried behind Bepo, pressing herself into him, tears at the corners of her eyes. The crew looked aghast, not sure what had gone wrong.

DAM. Law came from the corridor, each footstep echoing through the halls like thunder. "Don't you have something else to be doing besides terrorizing my patient…?" He said, shooting a look of pure evil at his crew, a dark aura coming from him. His crew squealed and ran off, yelling something like an apology.

"Sigh… I'm sorry Miss Alice. Those fools were giving you a hard time." Law spoke down to her, and put his arm around her shoulder. He led her away from the corridor with a strong arm, Bepo following close behind. They went to Law's quarters. The room was notoriously tidy. Law had no more than he needed: a desk, a bed, and some bookshelves. The bookshelves were only partially filled, because they were law's fiction books. Anything that Law deemed informative, he kept in his office. Those bookshelves were bursting at the seams. A quill-pen and a pot of ink sat on his desk, along with some charts and maps. A single porthole was set in the wall. Law brought Alice to the queen sized bed, where he sat her down.

"I've told you before, don't go anywhere in the ship without someone else around if you don't want to have to deal with the crew. If you don't, things like that could happen again- or worse. I can protect you from their teasing, but that won't stop them from trying other things." Law was dead serious, and looked Alice straight in the eye. She was startled. Law had never sounded so serious with her. He sounded like an older brother scolding his little sister. She nodded, trying to smile reassuringly. He breathed, letting out a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding.

"Yeah Alice! Don't wander around, or else you'll be attacked!" Bepo said, chastising her.

"Miss Alice, will you tell me where you came from?" He asked her. He would ask her this a lot, and each time she would try to answer him. But the words never came. She could never tell him her story; never share with him her pain.

Alice shook her head. She wanted so bad to tall him of her pain, to let the words flow like water from her mouth. She wanted to so badly, but the words got suck like glue in her throat. They took hold in her, clinging like a stubborn child. Her breath came short and she started to make strange sounds from her throat. Bepo slapped her on the back, and she gasped for breath, panting.

_Why….? Why….?! Why can't I speak?! _Alice thought furiously. She was sick of that gutless feeling, and the look on Law's face every time she failed to tell him anything. Like he was

Law was nearly fed up with this girl's games. He was tired of playing nice guy and waiting for her to open up- he wanted his answers _now_.

"Miss Alice, I would like to know why you refuse to answer me. It is getting old, frankly." His voice was cold. Alice flinched.

Suddenly, Alice got an idea. She ran over to the stack of paper on Law's desk, grabbed the pen, and started writing furiously. _Hello._ She wrote in convoluted scrawl. Law got up and peered down at the word.

"So you can write?" He asked her without looking at her. She nodded vigorously.

"Then you can answer my question. Where did you come from?"

Alice took a deep breath, and with shaking hands, she fluidly printed her answer.

_I spent six years in captivity. Six years of pain, of torture, of being told I was a freak, a monster that I didn't deserve to live. I lived through trauma after trauma, sacrifice after sacrifice. I was one of many kidnapped children, and we slowly dwindled in numbers, until only I remained._

_ I cried myself to sleep at night, thinking that I would suffer the same fate. I would not see tomorrow's sunlight. I would never know happiness again. I would die, cold and alone, in this dusty crypt of broken lives, like all the others who had come before me._

_How many would die before they were appeased? How much longer could they hold me here, bound, ensnared by a web so intricately entangled, it would never unravel. How much more could they tighten my restraints, till my wrists bled and my limbs were being ripped from my body. How long could the chains hold me there, suspended in hell, until they finally snapped, letting me drop deep, deep into the flames of hell._

_How long until fire seared my skin off, until flames smelt my bones, until an inferno finally cast my soul to pieces, spreading them across the sky like fiery falling stars? How long until I could vanish into flame and fire, so my life could finally burn brightly one last time?_

_I thought my day of reckoning would never come. On a ship bound for Mariejois, I lay shivering at the thought of being back in his hands again. I thought that I had escaped him, but I knew better once I was put on that boat. When oh when would peace finally hold me?_

_It came none too soon. When I awoke that night on the boat, I wanted to cry with relief. I could finally leave this world. The chains of defeat had snapped, sending me falling to the flames of hell, to be burned like the mighty phoenix in the golden black flames of nothingness. I was going to finally depart this world in a burning blaze of glory, and I wouldn't look back._

_Then you caught me._

_Trafalgar Law. You pulled me from my pyre, from the fires of hell and into existence, continuance. You helped me to see that not everything is black or white, that you can live on if you can find the one's you have shared your life with before._

_I will find them. The one's that came before you, Law, who also pulled me from despair. The ones who taught me to fight, who saved my life when I was on the verge of death._

_My brothers, Ace, Sabo, and Luffy._

At this last sentence, Alice fell asleep. But not before uttering a single, beautiful noise.

"Law…"

_Law's P.O.V_

Law was feeling… guilty. It was never an emotion he had entertained before. He had never known guilt. He was a pirate- guilt was suicide. So why did his insides twist upon reading the words of that girl, upon hearing his praises sung by this naïve child? Why did he feel such, anger at himself?

Alice painted him as a god. He was her savior, her hero. And he should have been _using_ that to his advantage, but _noo_, he has to go and get all mushy and feel guilty! Truly foolish.

She looks at him with such wonder, with such admiration and reverence, it was like he could fly or something. Her innocent blue eyes would trail him, and she would smile every time she saw him. Alice truly, truly adored him.

Yet Law couldn't bring himself to use that.

He couldn't bring himself to correct Alice, to show this little girl what he was. He was too afraid of her losing that light in her eyes. Nobody had every smiled at him like that before, nobody had ever loved him unconditionally, without asking him questions and making assumptions.

He couldn't lose that. Not yet. It was like a drug that he hadn't been aware he was on. Now, he couldn't stop no matter what he tried.

He carried the sleeping girl back to the infirmary. His last thoughts before leaving the room were _I should really see to getting her a cabin…_

**As always, reviews, and Jaa ne! ^w^**


	5. The first day- What's in the box?

**Hello everybody! Sorry for not updating sooner- I've been busy with midterms and auditions and projects and blah :P So I haven't had time to write! **

**Here's a new chapter- Take it away Disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: But I'm lazy...**

**Me: OI!**

**Disclaimer: . **

**Me:...**

**Me: ON WITH LE FIC!**

**Chapter 5**

**Grand Line**

When Alice woke, she found herself back in the infirmary. _Law… thanks. _She thought to herself. She made a resolution. _I am going to not be afraid of men anymore. _She thought. She got up and went to the kitchen. Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi were trying to cook something.

The men and bear turned around upon her arrival. Her stomach was fluttering, and she was blushing furiously. Of course, to Shachi, Penguin and Bepo, she was adorable. _Kawaii…._ They thought, blushing. They knew better than to try telling her this. The last thing they needed was Law's wrath. He had made it very clear that Alice was to be treated with kindness and caution.

"She hates men," he had told Shachi, Penguin and Bepo. He gave them the task of being Alice's 'protectors'. "A girl like Alice shouldn't be walking around a ship full of men alone. She's vulnerable." (Of course, he only included Shachi and Penguin after they groveled and begged and apologized a million times for what they had done, and that they had only wanted to introduce themselves to Alice, to make friends.) "Make sure that she doesn't get into trouble."

"Hey Alice" Bepo said warmly. He was kind with her, taking an instant liking to the quiet little girl. She was small and lithe, and when she walked, she was so graceful it was like she was dancing. _Too bad she's a human…_

She pointed at the "food" the men were making. "You wanna help make breakfast?" Shachi said his eyes wide. She nodded. . She breathed a sigh of relief. Round one over. _Fight Alice-chan! _Went mental Shachi and Penguin. Bepo sighed at the sight of the two men fist pumping with flaming moe eyes.

"We would love your help Alice!" Shachi and Penguin showered her with grace, until Alice blushed a deep scarlet color.

Alice started with cleaning. The kitchen was in disrepair. Dirty pots and pans littered the counters, and the stove was caked in grease and food residue. The oven looked like one too many things had exploded in it, and anything that might have been usable as a kitchen tool was caked in dirt and other unknown substances. Once she had cleared the mess away, she started in on the cooking. Until she realized that, they had no food that was edible.

_Wonderful…_ She thought exasperatedly to herself. _I might have been able to make something, but all I have here is moldy cheese, stale bread, some dry preserves, and water!_ She thought about it for a long time, wondering how she could make anything from this meager larder the Heart Pirates had. _Jeez, do they live off fish?! _ She thought loudly.

_Fish… _

She quickly unwrapped some of the preserves. Inside, she found some dry salted fish. She grinned, saved.

_Alright. I can work with this._ She thought, and started to work. Shachi commented sometimes, asking her what she was doing. Alice tried to reply the best she could, once even smiling. Soon, she finished, presenting fish cooked in oil with salt and butter, toasted bread with berry preserve, a bean paste that she had boiled in water to turn into tea, and melted cheese with crackers for dipping.

She grinned, her clothes having taken quite a beating from the mess. She looked so young, like a child that had accomplished something and was expecting praise. It came to her in heaps, from Shachi and Penguin and Bepo, and from the other crewmembers that had entered smelling something delicious afoot. She laughed and blushed, smiling so wide that she looked like a different person.

She looked truly happy.

Law of course, watched all of this from the shadows. His hat shadowed his face, but he was torn inside. He so badly wanted to go into the kitchen, to watch her smile, to smile with her, to see her smile for _him_. He didn't understand why he felt that way, let alone why he simply couldn't enter the kitchen, even thought it was _his _ship.

He turned away brusquely, walking away quickly. Obviously, he could put the girl to use as a cook, but he would make Shachi supervise her. He didn't want a single scratch on the girl- She was valuable to him now. He had saved her, and he didn't just save anyone.

Something caught his sleeve. He turned to brush it away, but _she _stood there, staring at him with pitiful puppy eyes. She still wore her apron, covered with mess from the kitchen, and had a bit of berry preserve on her cheek.

She stared at him with big, shining eyes. She pulled out a pad of paper and a small pen, and quickly wrote a question. _You wouldn't happen to have any musical instruments, would you?_

She wanted to know if there were any musical instruments. Aboard his ship. The ship of a cruel, heartless man who showed no mercy to anyone, and she wanted to know if he had some _musical instruments _just _lying around_ somewhere.

"I don't know. Ask Bepo, he does all the storage stuff." He said callously. _Damn!_ He went in his head. _Why was I so, so rude?! _He ran off, leaving Alice with her hand outstretched, confusion dominant of her face.

Alice walked back into the kitchen, the drunken happiness of accomplishment sobered. She tugged the bear's sleeve like a child.

"Hmm?" He said. "What is it Alice-chan?" He looked down at her. _Kawaii…. _He thought.

_Would you know if there were any musical instruments on board?_ She wrote quickly.

_Musical instruments…? _"I'm not sure, but I could check." He said. He walked out, Alice trailing him like a little lost puppy. He walked down the stairs, to the very bottom of the ship where the storage was. He opened the door and flicked on the lights.

"Well, let's look around." They stared in on the boxes and crates. Most of what they found was food, oil and things for the ships maintenance, or medical supplies. There were a lot of medical supplies.

Finally, Alice came upon an old crate made of sandalwood. She pried off the top, and lo and behold, a single velvet case peeked out at her. She ripped off the lid, and pulled out the case. It was shiny black velvet, with double silver clasps and a handle made of shiny black plastic. She snapped back the clasps and opened it, Bepo staring down from above her shoulder.

_ Oh wow… _Alice thought. It was beautiful violin. The beautiful rosewood, the shimmering pine of the belly, the golden scroll at the top. It was a truly gorgeous violin. But it was in terrible shape. Its strings were dry and frayed, and the G string was missing completely. But she could take care of that later. There was a bow in the case too, a can of lubricant, and a tuning fork.

_Bepo, do you think I could have this?_ She barely could contain her excitement, and her hands shook when she wrote. _It's so beautiful…. What a masterpiece…_ Bepo nodded, the girl was nearly transfixed with this violin! Her eyes shone with wonder and beauty, she looked like it was made of pure gold or something!

_I'll have to replace the G string…. _She thought. _And I'll have to get extra strings too…._ She kept making plans, running her fingers over the instrument. Finally, she put it back in the case and grasped it by the handle. They put the storage back in order, and left.

Law was in his room, lying back on his bed. "Captain!" Shachi burst into his room. "We're nearing an island sir. We're going to surface soon." Law nodded at Shachi, and he left.

_What an idiot I am… _Law thought. He thought that Alice was so… cute… sometimes…. _Gaah! _ He thought. _What am I thinking?! I'm a merciless pirate! _He got up and paced a bit. Law realized something though.

He knew nothing about Alice. He didn't know her real name, her age, her family, her birthplace. He didn't know anything. _I should probably confront her about it… _ He decided that's what he'd do. He got up in search of Alice, prowling the halls for her. When he didn't find her in her room or the kitchen, he decided to look up on deck. He hadn't even opened the door when he heard something, beautiful.

It was like the calls of the sirens, beautiful mermaids that lured men to their deaths on the seas. It was so sweet and gentle, yet heartbreakingly sad. It yearned and cried, turning wails into sweet music.

It was gorgeous.

And it was coming from Alice.

The music floated down from the second deck railing. There, perched on the metal bars, was Alice. Her eyes were closed, and she was trying to concentrate, but it was hard to even play good music with a string missing, let alone a song. Law lost himself in her sounds, simply standing on deck, listening to her play.

She looked up suddenly, surprised, breaking off from the music. Law frowned. He wanted to hear more of that beautiful melody. She grinned down at him and beckoned him up. He vaulted up and over the railing, sailing past her head. She yelped in surprise, and nearly fell over the rail, but two strong hands came around the shoulders and locked in front of her chest.

"And just where do you think you're going…?" Law murmured into her ear. He swung her up and over the railing and onto the deck. Alice blushed profusely, muttering thanks to her savior.

"I was wondering Alice…" Law said, suddenly businesslike. "How old are you?" She looked up in surprise, a faint blush still dusting her cheeks rose petal pink.

Alice held up ten fingers, then eight more, suddenly becoming very interested in her feet. She could feel her cheeks heating up at the imposing explanation. _Eighteen_? Law thought to himself. _Impossible! She's looks only ten at least! _

"Are you sure…?" He said hesitantly. She looked at him timidly.

_Well, yeah,_ she wrote. _I spent eight years growing up with my mom, four years with Ace, Sabo and Luffy, six months….., and six years…. You know what._ She turned away, leaving out details that Law would press her for later.

"Alice, you're only about four foot three. You cannot be eighteen, it's impossible."

She looked down hesitantly, averting her eyes from his face.

"Alice. Tell me now." Law said firmly. She cracked under his imposing glare.

_Well, you see…. I think that as an aftereffect of all the… testing._ She wrote that last word with pain. _I think I stopped growing._ She looked up at Law, her eyes wide and childish.

Law had to mentally beat himself. This girl, so innocent and young, had no experience what so-ever with life. She had never been robbed, never had to work for a living. "That's quite possible." He said. "Come inside and eat. We'll talk more about it later."

Law led her down into the ship, past the infirmary and captains quarters to the galley. The men were digging into the food with zeal, going at it like rabid dogs. He pulled Alice along with him, until he reached the head of the table in the galley. He sat down, and one of his men pulled up a chair for Alice. She nodded her thanks, blushing pink a bit.

"Everyone, this is Alice. Formally." Law said smoothly. People nodded and smiled, while others tried to hide their red faces. At least they had the grace to blush. "She is to be treated with respect and courtesy. She will help out in the kitchen, but as she is still recovering, won't be our cook." Alice looked at him with the expression of a child who wants to go out and play even if they're sick in bed, while his men looked at him with despair and groans in their mouths. Her cooking was so good!

"Alice, meet Crilik. Crilik is our navigator." A man on Alice's right side nodded politely. Crilik was a tall man with a nearly shaved head, slanted eyes, and black stubble on his face. He made quite a picture, sitting squished in at the table there. "And of course, you already know Shachi, Penguin and Bepo." The two mechanics were piled atop one another grinning like idiots, with Bepo sitting in the background, a fuzzy mountain of blank expression. She nodded and softly murmured noiselessly in a greeting.

The dominant thought in the room: _Kawaii…_

"I need coffee." Law said. The Heart Pirates parted in a straight shot to the kitchen door. He walked briskly down the makeshift aisle, and returned less than a minute later. This daily routine was nicknamed by half the crew, "Fleeing the Enemy".

He sat back down at the table, and sipped his coffee. He smiled at slightly bitter taste. He loved coffee. He saw Shachi and Penguin going around the room. Further investigation showed a betting pool on whoever Alice would open up to first. The most bids were on Law or Bepo, fewest on Shachi and Penguin. He chuckled.

"Why are my human friends idiots?" Law asked Bepo. Shachi and Penguin, the two in question, looked offended by the question. Bepo looked up from his fish.

"Because … they grew up with you?" Law nearly choked on his coffee, but Shachi and Penguin doubled over laughing. Half of the men in the room were trying to smother laughs and snickers.

"S-sorry captain… it's just…! Aha, 'they grew up with you', priceless!"

"Ha! Because we grew up around him, we're idiots? Yeah, considering that you would beat on anyone you thought was smarter than you, I guess that's right! HA!"

Law growled. It was true that he was fiercely competitive towards anyone he saw as a threat to his intellect, so what Bepo said was plausible. But seriously, he didn't need to go _advertising_ it.

One of his subordinates served Alice, and she nodded her head in thanks. To most people, she was smiling and adorable. To Law, she was sweating and relieved when he was gone.

Breakfast was eaten with the normal banter, none of which Alice partook in. She picked at her food, but a death glare from Law fixed that. She ate all her food.

After the meal, she fled the galley. Law loped after her, watching her smoothly from the shadows. He quietly pursued her, scrutinizing every step, every movement through the halls, head bowed, arms swinging.

She emerged onto the deck, and as soon as the sun hit her face, she turned into another being altogether. Her face seemed to shine under the sun, her hair twisting and dancing in the wind, sparkling like ivory. Her long alabaster hair, her closed eyelids that concealed pearly blue ice. And her pallid skin, sallow and chalky under the glare of fluorescents now glowed in the sunshine.

She glided up the winding staircase to the second level, and ran to the wall, out of Law's vision. When she returned to sit upon the railing, she had in hand the violin and bow once more. She brought the instrument to her neck, and once again that gorgeous, supple music wafted throughout the air, flowing around the ship in a cocoon of wonder.

**Jajajaja! Oh and happy Valentines- FOREVER ALONE! :D**

**Until next time, Jaa ne! ^w^**


End file.
